Africa, a place of spectacular beauty, continues to conjure up extreme images: of a paradisal Eden and of a conflict-ridden, disease-afflicted "dark continent". In reality, Africa is resilient and, despite continuing challenges, is currently on the move in the areas of economic development, conflict resolution and democratic governance.

Africa has been the second-fastest growing region in the world after Asia in the past decade and its population of nearly 1 billion consumers will provide an important future global market. As the editorial in last week's Observernoted: "Europe and the UK have been slow to adjust to the rise of an Africa powered by economic growth and a burgeoning consumer boom."

China, unlike the west, is investing heavily in Africa's infrastructure sectors – roads, railways, electricity – and has established a strong presence in its extractive sectors.

I am a Nigerian and my area of expertise is conflict resolution. Long-running conflicts in Liberia, Sierra Leone, Burundi, the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) and south Sudan have been largely brought to an end, while the new state of South Sudan is close to being born following a peaceful referendum. While many of these conflicts have been calmed through the help of the United Nations, regional bodies such as the Economic Community of West African States and the African Union (AU) have also sacrificed blood and treasure in a bid to achieve Pax Africana.

Nigeria and South Africa have been leading peacekeeping missions and seeking to promote regional integration. Other potential powers include the DRC in Central Africa, Kenya in East Africa and Algeria in North Africa.

In the area of governance, between 1960 and 1990, only four civilian leaders in Africa voluntarily handed over power, while no ruling party lost power. However, since the end of the cold war, ruling parties in Ghana, Senegal, Kenya, and Zambia have been voted out. Seventeen elections will take place in Africa this year. Military regimes from Togo, Mauritania, Madagascar and Niger have been sanctioned by the AU, while "people's revolutions" have toppled long-ruling despots in Egypt and Tunisia, even as another currently challenges Tripoli's tyrant, Gaddafi.

To improve governance, African leaders created an African Peer Review Mechanism in 2003 which 30 countries have joined. The system involves governments, civil society and the private sector and encourages countries to adopt sound policies, priorities and standards for political and economic development.

Africans continue to pursue the quest to break the chains of "global apartheid" by seeking greater influence within inequitable international institutions such as the UN, the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund and the World Trade Organisation. America and Europe still spend more than $150bn annually on agricultural subsidies in a sector in which 70% of Africans find employment. These structural obstacles must be urgently removed to ensure that the quest for Africa's renaissance is realised.